Calgary transit boosting security at night
Officers will ride trains, buses and patrol stations
Calgary Transit is beefing up security at night in a bid to lessen the public’s fears of taking public transportation in the late hours, and prevent problems before they escalate.
Starting Oct. 20, teams of dedicated peace officers will be out from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. riding trains and buses and patrolling stations and platforms that typically generate high call volumes at night.
About four teams of two officers will be on the night shift, supported by general duty officers who will work throughout the rest of the transit system.
“When our officers get tied up with an arrest, the challenge is always maintaining visibility but still handling things that come along,” said Brian Whitelaw, co-ordinator of public safety and enforcement with Calgary Transit.
“We’ll be taking a look at LRT routes that seem to get more calls for peace officer assistance. We’ll be developing programs, one targeting bus safety issues and one that is on high visibility on the LRT.”
Whitelaw said the programs will be evaluated over a six-month period.
Currently, officers are mostly reacting to issues already in progress, Whitelaw said, adding they do a good job of keeping on top of the more than 200,000 help phone activations they receive every year.
But he wants officers to be present at those “hot spot” locations before things get out of hand, typically at older stations that have not been redesigned for safety and at stations or platforms near busy shopping malls.
“If we can get to a point where a customer does not have to call us, that’s a significant gain in overall safety,” Whitelaw said. “The ultimate goal is to reduce crimes of violence on the system. They are very, very low, but we believe we can actually drive the number down further.”
According to Calgary Transit statistics, reported person crimes — including assault, robbery, sex crimes and assaults on peace officers — were up slightly in 2013 from 2012. Overall, serious crimes also increased slightly in 2013.
In general, crime rates have been going down over the past few years. Disorder calls are also gradually decreasing.
At the same time, the system continues to grow and ridership continues to rise, up from 101,971,600 in 2012 to around 107,492,700 in 2013.
Nevertheless, there is still a lingering perception that taking public transportation at night is unsafe, and customers have long called for a higher peace officer presence at night. Whitelaw said establishing the night shift team was made possible with the hiring of new officers this year, bringing the total number to 95 officers.
“Customers have always certainly told us that they appreciate there are peace officers out on the system, and a lot of the feedback is that they’d like to see more of them,” he said. “Reassuring customers, particularly after 6, is important to us.”
The news of a dedicated night crew was welcomed by some transit users Thursday.
Lyn Agawin said she’s experienced drunk people and other unsavory characters while riding the train at night.
She said more security staff could improve the ride.
Kimberly Jones, with civic action group Transit Camp YYC, lauded the decision to add more night shift peace officers. Ultimately, she said getting more people to use public transportation will make the system safer overall, adding that introducing taxi queues at train stations might do the trick.
“When you get off the train, you can get right on a taxi when buses aren’t running anymore late at night,” she said. “I think that would help.”
But Keitha Langston, who has lived in Edmonton and Montreal, said she feels relatively safe riding Calgary’s LRT at night. “Compared to other cities, yes I do (feel safe). I haven’t been harassed as much.”